EU Member States are to increase their cooperation on the expansion of renewable energies in the future. The Member States can follow different paths but should learn from each other. To support this process, various cooperation mechanisms are to be enabled through the EU Renewable Directive. For this purpose Oeko-Institut has been providing the European Commission expert advice within the scope of the “RES4LESS” project on what barriers to cooperation there are and how they can be removed.

The goal is to expand renewable energies in the EU to 20 per cent by 2020. In order to meet their different targets, Member States can introduce support regulations and so-called “cooperation mechanisms” (Joint Projects, Joint Support Schemes and Statistical Transfer). In this way, they can, for example, pay a member state so that renewable energy produced in that country can be counted towards the targets of the buying country or participate in renewable projects.

Practical support for EU Member States

To further facilitate cooperation, the EU Commission has recently published guidelines on “Co-operation Mechanisms” and model contracts for Member States. Furthermore the Commission is providing best practice examples and guidelines for designing support instruments geared to renewable energies, to which Oeko-Institut has contributed within the scope of the “RES LEGAL” project.

With the help of these instruments, EU Member States can continue to develop their own methods and tailor them to their own national circumstances in order to meet their renewable targets.